Welcome to the English Department!

Great things are happening in English classrooms throughout Manual Academy!  Our English teachers are creating classrooms focused on rigorous, exciting, and challenging learning opportunities, all while preparing students to become strong, 21st Century communicators.
 
In the 7th and 8th Grade Academy, students are studying literature using the John Hopkins program known as "Student-Team Literature."  Students are strengthening their reading strategies, vocabulary, and sentence building--and learning to do so cooperatively in the process.
 
In the 9th Grade Academy, students recently created Black History Month projects, which called on them to use their creativity and writing skills.  Students created written portions for the project and also designed posters.  Students in the 9th Grade Academy are also focused on learning more about short stories, literary terms, and genres.
 
In the Health and Business Academies (10th - 12th), English students are doing a variety of exciting things, based on their grade levels.  Sophomore students are studying William Shakespeare and other classic works, like To Kill A Mockingbird and A Raisin In The Sun.  Juniors are diligently working towards the ACT/PSAE exams by preparing and studying.  They are also focusing on American authors, fiction, and poetry.  Seniors are hard at work on a research paper for British Literature, in which students must use research and process skills in order to compile information and then integrate it successfully into their narrative papers.
 
And all of our students are reinforcing what they're learning inside the classroom in our Compass Learning Labs.  Students study writing and literature using the Compass Learning program on a weekly basis.  All of these amazing things are coming together to build a strong learning environment for our students, enabling them and enfranchising them with the necessary skills to successfully communicate in an ever-changing world.

School Improvement Goals
2012-2013

Goal 1:   Manual Academy will attain a 93% attendance rate or higher for the 2012-2013
                school year.
• Conference with students every Data Wednesday during Advisory to discuss attendance data.
• Make all classes engaging, with personal attention for each child (use of bell-ringer activities …)  (evaluation tool, walk-throughs, rounds, and student surveys will indicate engagement)
• Utilize 2-day consecutive absence forms for all classes.
• Call parents regularly with attendance updates.  (parent contact form)
• Utilize incentives and rewards through PBIS data.

Goal 2:  Manual Academy will cut the number of days of instruction lost to suspension
               by 50% for the 2012-2013 school year.
• Make use of all possible interventions.  (Compass, Data Wednesday, double-dosing in core subjects, Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions through RtI)
• Teach and re-teach PBIS behavior matrix through all classes (track discipline referrals).
• Be consistent with expectations.
• Plan/structure class time carefully (lesson plans will indicate bell-to-bell instruction).
• Utilize incentives and rewards for behavior through PBIS.

Goal 3:  Sixty percent of students will make expected gains on the NWEA and MAP
               tests in reading and mathematics.
• Determine student needs through analysis of NWEA strands (individual student conferences).
• Help students to set personal goals for upcoming NWEA tests (goal sheets).
• Gauge what students have learned (NWEA strand growth).
• Differentiate instruction using the following:
• Dedicated workshops once a week, focusing on NWEA-indicated deficiencies.
• Compass activities once or twice a week in all classes.
• Evaluate/measure student growth according to NWEA strands, following each round of NWEA testing.

Goal 4: 
• Fifty percent of 11th-grade students will score “proficient” or better in the
     “all” group on the PSAE;
• Seventy percent of the 7th and 8th-grade students will score “proficient” or better in the “all” group on the ISAT.
** {PSAE and ISAT scores will increase 10% from 2011-2012, according to state “safe harbor” guidelines.}

Goal 5:  Increase the percentage of freshmen on track to achieve sophomore status to 90% or higher.
• Make use of all possible interventions.  (Compass, Data Wednesday, double-dosing in core subjects, Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions through RtI)
• Utilize incentives and rewards for behavior through PBIS.
• Utilize 2-day consecutive absence forms for all classes.
• Conference with students every Data Wednesday during Advisory to discuss attendance data.
• Maintain parent contacts (PEP process, EWI process).
• Utilize NWEA data to design differentiated instruction.
• Offer alternative placement to students with 18 or more unexcused absences.
• Initiate and maintain PEPs for student success and achievement.

Goal 6:  Increase the senior graduation rate to 92%.
• Make use of all possible interventions.  (Compass, Data Wednesday, double-dosing in core subjects, Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions through RtI)
• Utilize incentives and rewards for behavior through PBIS.
• Utilize 2-day consecutive absence forms for all classes.
• Conference with students every Data Wednesday during Advisory to discuss attendance data.
• Maintain parent contacts (PEP process, EWI process).
• Enlist the support of counselors regarding students who are in danger of not graduating.
• Initiate and maintain PEPs for student success and achievement.

Goal 7:  Seventy percent of students will score at 4+ on the Manual Writing Rubric.
• Concentrate on focused writing instruction.
• Teach the writing process.
• Teach the Manual Writing Rubric.
• Provide students with many different writing samples.
• Provide students with many different writing opportunities.
• Utilize peer editing/review.
• Encourage students to “take the lead” and make improvements in their work.
 
Resources
Compass - https://www.thelearningodyssey.com/
ACT practice - http://www.actstudent.org/sampletest/